


This Life (Black Sails - TWD AU)

by rhosgotskulled



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Gen, Inspired by The Walking Dead, M/M, Slow Burn, Slow Burn - John Silver x Captain Flint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-28 01:00:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6307744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhosgotskulled/pseuds/rhosgotskulled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"My name is John Silver." He said. "And I happen to be a very good fighter."</p><p>The Black Sails characters in the setting of The Walking Dead.<br/>John finds himself in a desperate situation surrounded by Walkers and in his escape risks the lives of men under the command of a man named The Captain. John must find a way to save their lives so he could keep his.<br/>Meanwhile The Rangers suspect a problem. </p><p>Title inspiration is from Josef Salvat's song 'This Life.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Life (Black Sails - TWD AU)

Before the Walkers came John Silver’s life was already complicated.  
The end of the world came far sooner to John than to everyone else and he had already learned how to adapt in advance. He thought that gave him an advantage.. He was already looting, running away from security guards and living on the streets before it became a means of survival for the rest of humanity. He was ahead of the game.

John Silver was a lot of things but before today, he was never a killer. That statement, however, ended. On an innocent scout for supplies in a supermarket store to his surprise he was landed by a large man armed with an axe, and attempted to swing for John’s head. John was far quicker and nimble than his older opponent and he ducked just in time.  
He didn’t know why he was being attacked, he didn’t care. All he thought about was a quick escape from his madman. The doors were clear when he came into the store, but now, a herd of Walkers had gathered after they heard the commotion inside the store.  
The mad man with the axe tore down tins of food from the shelves, glasses smashed, contents exploding everywhere onto the grimy floor. Among them John slipped but quickly caught himself and got up and went for his knife at his hip. He could have used his gun, but he didn’t want the sound to bring anymore Walkers to the place, and, he had to admit, he didn’t want to kill him just yet, even when the stranger clearly wanted to kill John very much.  
“Wait! Just stop and think for a minute!” John reasoned, his hands held out ahead of him, a few meters away from the man with the axe.  
But the man didn’t stop going for him, so John quickly looked towards the Walkers, gathered at the door. After he entered had drawn a plank through the handles but the Walkers force behind had dented it considerably and it wasn’t going to hold much longer. He could use them to his advantage, but how could he escape?  
There was, thought John Silver, always a way.  
John Silver ran for cover behind a shelf a few aisles down, hoping he had lost the man for a moment to gather a plan up in his head. At the far end of the store there was a door signed STAFF ONLY, and it was just sprinting distance from the Walkers. That could be his escape route. But how could he stall the mad man long enough for him to make it for the door?  
John decided quickly and he picked up a jar of honey from his side and held it in his hands thoughtfully.  
It was a crazy plan but it could work.  
John took a deep breath and stepped out of his cover and ran towards the entrance, waving his hands and shouting for the mad man’s attention.  
“Hey, over here you fucking lunatic!”  
The man yelled something John didn’t make out and charged towards him, his axe ready to swing again and John, just when the man was just mere yards away, he smashed the jar of honey in front of him onto the floor. He quickly ducked and rolled away when the man lost his footing onto the slippery honey on the floor and his great fat face smashed against the floor with a load and gross bang, followed by a long moan. John quickly dived for the axe, gripping it hard in his sweaty palms and swung his strength onto the plank. The plank cracked but was still intact, so John tried another swing, far too conscious of the man attempting to stand right back up behind him.  
SLAM AND CRACK!  
The plank tore and splintered apart and the doors burst open and the Walker’s poured inside. To avoid being captured by one John sprang out of the way and sprinted towards the door, hoping to any God now that it wasn’t locked.

He made it to the door and turned to look behind him, the Walkers had descended onto the man like lions over a kill, and he tried not to feel sick. He didn’t want to think that he had killed him, but he did. He was a true survivor now and he may have to do it again.  
He tried the knob and sighed in relief to find it was open and he ran through corridors and found the back entrance but instead that was locked.  
He yelled in frustration. In just a few minutes the whole store would be riddled with Walkers.  
He tried to keep calm and think of another idea but nothing came. He decided to go through the corridors again and see if he missed anything.  
He did.  
There was a door with a sign on it: TO THE ROOF.  
It was the only safe option John could find at this moment so he made for the door and climbed the stairs, but the door at the end was locked, bolted from the outside. He could hear the moaning and hissing of the dead behind him and though he had shut the door behind him the Walkers were already managing to open it again. Pretty soon they would follow him up and kill him.  
He banged his whole body against the door, it gave only a few inches but the bolt on the chain wouldn’t break. He wasn’t sure if he was going mad but he was sure he could hear voices on the other side on the roof, they were raised male voice yet conscious. He wasn’t imagining it surely.  
He hit the door and called out desperately.  
“If anyone is out there please let me out, I need help. They’re coming for me. Please!”  
One Walker had made it through the door and began climbing, on all fours up the steps, his teeth gnashing, it’s missing eyes black pits, one arm out clawing out. It grabbed for John’s leg but he kicked its head back. When it was recovered again, he attempted the same but John had his knife out and dug it into the Walker’s skull.  
But more were coming from behind it, now the whole doorway was being blocked by Walkers.  
John gave another push into the door, to a point where he could see through the gap. There were people out there. He was sure.  
“Please open, help me!” John had never begged for his life but he was close to it then. He was sure he was a goner and if the people on the other side didn’t help them then he would haunt their ass until they ended up in the same position as him. He didn’t know what he expected for them to do. He never expected anything from humanity before, why should he now?

John closed his eyes and waited for his inevitable death but behind him he heard the lock of the bolt click and the chain clanking away so the door could swing open. He turned to see what was happening but was blinding by the strength of the sun’s light in his eyes and all he saw was a pair of strong arms drag him outside.  
He lay on the floor, gathering his breath and blinking his eyes, adjusting himself to the light. A pair of men held the door shut against the herd of Walkers and managed to bolt the door again but the Walkers still banged against it from the other side.  
He struggled up and rubbed himself down. He was covered in numerous food items and Walker’s blood and smelled worse. He looked up and counted a group of people around him. He discovered the ground was made up of five men.  
They looked experienced and hardened, equipped to the max of guns and other weaponry, some even looked military but John knew the military had fallen months ago. So who were these people?  
The one who had dragged him outside with a bison’s strength was a man similar to his age but nearly double of John’s size. He had close cropped sandy hair and stubble and a strong jaw, he definitely looked military, with a machine gun strapped to his back and his arms crossed, making his big biceps seem even bigger. Though this stranger saved John all the same he was very cautious of him, John was quick but he felt this man could catch him and kill him before he even blinked.  
John’s eyes moved around the rest of the ground, one was Chinese and tall, he wore his hair in a long dark ponytail and scrutinised John back with his dark narrowed eyes and it made him uncomfortable, the two men either side of him were less threatening, one was bald with a thick beard, the other scruffy, dark and ordinary looking, not like the others at all.  
The latter man, furthest away, stood on the edge of the roof with a pair of binoculars to his face. He was the eldest of them and John got the impression he was the leader of the group. His hair was closely shaved, and he had a beard, red in colour, slight scars about his face and his brow seemed to remain in a permanent state of being furrowed. He didn’t even look away from the binoculars when John had joined them, nor when he commanded-  
“Billy!”  
The man nearest John, whose hand was ready on his machete at his hip in case John tried anything funny, faced his leader and walked over to the older man. The two exchanged a few words and John gulped a little when the leader turned his head to him for a moment and gave him a cold hard stare. Billy nodded his head after whatever the leader had told him and made his way back to John.  
John straightened when Billy approached but he was still a full head shorter than him. Billy stopped and looked down at John, crossed his arms, tilted his head, and waited for John to explain himself apparently. John held up his hands to bid he didn’t want any trouble with them.  
“My name is John Silver,” He said. “And I happen to be a very good fighter."  
He tried his cocky grin on him, God knows why, but it didn’t do anything for Billy to trust him more than he probably didn’t.  
It was a lie of course. John had never fought with anything in his life; apart from earlier on it was the probably the only one on one combat he had fought in yet. He knew the whole group up here were hard, experienced fighters, maybe if he made himself seem indispensable to them they wouldn’t throw him over the side of the building and be a Walker snack.  
Billy looked him up and down, doubt written all over his face and then he actually smirked.  
“Well, John, seeing as you have put us into this mess, The Captain wants you to put us out of it.”  
The Captain? What kind of name was that?  
He assumed it was the rank of the leader Billy spoke of, and John wondered had all military command had really went away since this the dead rising thing all started?  
First though Billy wanted John’s wrists bound. Great, John thought. He was sure he had gotten himself out of the frying pan only be thrown right into the fire. The rope felt stiff and taut against his skin when Billy lead him towards The Captain, who was now looking below to the growing gathering of Walkers around the building.  
They were trapped up here, John knew, and it was his fault. He knew he had to answer to it somehow.  
“Here, he calls himself John Silver, Captain. He says he’s a good fighter.” John could hear the cynicism in his voice as Billy told him.  
“Does he now?” The Captain turned from his observing and John’s eyes met his green gaze, a fire behind them.  
John realised he was stuck between two very intimidating men and he had to use his wits to get him out of the situation.  
“Now, before you start, I know this is my fault. But I was trying to get away from the Walkers. How was I supposed to know you lot were up here?”  
When all he received was silence between them he continued, “By the way, were you guys by any chance responsible for that screaming axe wielding maniac downstairs?”  
This time he finally got a response between the two as they exchange a look between them and John cursed under his breath. He didn’t care what had happened with them between the maniac downstairs, he just wanted to be back on the road on his own, it was dangerous being stuck in one place for two long.  
The Captain spoke, “Look, all that matters is that we get away from this place and if you want to too then you can, but as long as you don’t cause any other business. When we leave-”  
“If we leave,” Billy corrected The Captain, rising his eyebrows.  
“When we leave,” The Captain pressed, giving Billy an annoyed look, “You can go wherever you like and leave us alone. But first, we got to work together, even if I don’t trust a single word you say.”  
“Fine,” John Silver agreed, his voice hard and cool. “But if we really are going to succeed in this mission, these bonds go.” He raised his tied wrists and with a sigh The Captain reached for his knife and cut the rope, and put his knife away in his jacket but not before he raised it towards John’s face as a warning. John nodded in understanding and left the two of them to sit by himself on a vent that stuck up from out of the roof.

The others were looking at him suspiciously, the Chinese man was sharpening a a samurai sword to and caught him several times looking over at him.  
Once Billy and The Captain had done talking The Captain summoned the group to order around him, with John slightly behind everyone.  
“As you have probably guessed, we are pretty much stuck in a shit situation where every exit is surrounded by load of Walkers waiting for us. But we do have one small compensation; we have John Silver here, who has volunteered himself to get us out of this predicament he has brought us in in the first place.”  
John was met with many hostile glares.  
“I’ve got a plan, a plan that may risk everything we have worked for so far but if we succeed, we’ll live another day, and right now that’s all we can fight for right now.” The Captain paused, watched his group absorbed in his presence, his speech, it was working. It was evident they would do anything he’d say. If John wasn’t so anxious about the man, he’d be impressed.  
“Now we may not have many options, but I do see one. It’s going to be hard job but it’s possible we accomplish it. Now we’ve got enough ammo and man power to work through the store but leaving is going to the real mission. I say Joji, Muldoon and Lucas,” he turned towards the Chinese one, the bald one and the dark haired one, “you’ll clear the lower level while Billy and I will leave the building and head straight for the vehicle. The truck is currently swarmed with Walkers however and this is where I need you, John.”  
Now John was pointed out by The Captain, “To have gotten away from the Walkers’ below you’d have to have been quick. This is why I’m entrusting you to lead the Walker’s away outside, to act as bait and lure the Walker’s towards the car on the far side of the car park. You see there?”  
He pointed towards a lone trashed car on the far end of the carpark. The Captain handed him his pair of binoculars for him to have a better view. He could see that the area was empty of any dead, but the path to it was littered by them, it was a long way to run.  
“Now, when you’re there I want you to detect the alarm system so to set it off, with that level of sound hopefully it will drive the Walkers away from our vehicle and the store entrance. After you have done that you will hide, when I and everyone else have made it back inside the truck we will come back for you and pick you up. Got that?”  
John sighed and dropped the binoculars from his eyes and turned to him, “How can I be sure you will come back and get me? What if the plan doesn’t work and you drive off and leave me anyway?”  
The Captain was silent for a moment, working out the right words to use. John watched the way his face and eyes changed when he thought, his brow softened and then tightened back into that stern, determined expression once again, and he finally answered.  
“You have my word.” He finally said, and with that John couldn’t help but try and believe that the plan would work, and that he wasn’t walking into a huge Walker invested death trap.

* * *

 

They had planned to meet here, on the crossroads between camps where The Rangers pulled in. They were in a wooded part of town, covered and secret.  
Charles Vane climbed off his old Harley Davidson and removed his shades from his eyes and looked into the road ahead of him. Flint and his men were nowhere to be seen.  
Anne Bonny pulled in the road and cut the engine off her motorbike, she remained sat on it, adjusted the cap on her head several times until she finally said, “Where the fuck are they? They said they’d meet us here by now.”  
Charles kicked the dirt with his boot and looked at his watch. She was right, the daylight wouldn’t last long and they were already endangering themselves being exposed like this.  
Behind them a van appeared, driven by the last to The Rangers Jack Rackham. It was his own business van he drove but since the Walkers came he met Charles and Anne and now he was far from the conformist middle class citizen he used to be. IN the back of the van were supplies.  
Between The Captain and the Rangers they held a deal, it was separate to the Nassau camp however. Since Eleanor and Charles’ very messy breakup and fall out The Rangers left the settlement of Nassau and were their own resources, but Charles and his gang were good scouts and found supplies even Eleanor Guthrie could ever get her hands on. The Captain, or Flint, as Charles called him saw Charles as a huge advantage to the camp and still valued the help from Charles Vane. In return for their supplies, Flint would provide Charles with information, weapons, fuel, anything that was too dangerous for Nassau to risk itself but for Charles to use.  
Because Charles wanted to know everything, who was top dog in what parts, who was the biggest community, who are bad, who are good and who are weak, because Charles didn’t just find these supplies, he stole them, he burned other camps and settlements down, he killed their people, he did anything necessary for Nassau to survive, because even if he was apart from it, he would still protect it. That was part of the reason why things soured between him and Eleanor, the head of Nassau. She disagreed to the culls as she called it, that she wanted to help the rest of humanity, not destroy it. But she wasn’t looking at the full picture. Nassau was constantly under threat from other gangs and he made sure Nassau could withstand anything.

  
Jack climbed out of the van and stretch his arms and legs, it was a long drive and yet The Captain was closer to the meeting spot than they were, but he didn’t seem to be anywhere near.  
Charles tried the radio, sometimes the radio signal would be up and comms could be heard but today the signal wasn’t around and Charles clenched his jaw.  
“Jack, do you know what’s up ahead?”  
Jack thought for a moment, “I got a map in the back here. I think it’s a town, not that big. Got a supermarket there, I guess that’s where The Captain and his men were headed before.”  
“You think they could’ve been surrounded?”  
Anne Bonny sucked on her teeth, “Could happen.” She added.  
“How much fuel do you have?” Charles asked, an idea forming in his head.  
“I’m running low.” Anne said, hitting her dial and cursing.  
Jack checked this and nodded, I’ve got enough for miles yet. Anne can join me with her bike in the back, should be fine.”  
Charles climbed back onto his bike and started the engine.  
“You think it’s a good idea Charles? It’s a risk, they could already be dead.”  
“We gotta try.” Charles put simply and speeded off in front of them.  
Jack and Anne exchanged looks, moved the bike inside and they entered the van and followed after him. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you have enjoyed and please send any suggestions if you have any. I would love to hear what you think. I'm planning a huge series for this with most of the characteters.  
> Part 2 will be up very soon.


End file.
